Sprinter Letsile Tebogo made history for Botswana and Africa when he was crowned Olympic 200- meter champion in Paris in a moving story that is about much more than just gold medals.



Tebogo raced to victory 19.46, ahead of a pair of Americans in Kenny Bednarek (19.62) and Noah Lyles (19.70), securing a first-ever gold medal for Botswana at the Olympics, and a first African win in the men’s 200m.



Lyles, the favorite who had earlier won the 100m crown, announced directly after the race that he had Covid-19 which had affected his performance, stealing the media limelight to a degree and opening a debate over whether he should have raced now for two days that he was ill, not only for his safety but of those around him.



Not that the quiet Tebogo would have minded the spotlight being off him as he reflects in a personal manner on his triumph, which comes just months after the death of his mother Seratiwa following a battle with cancer.



She had been a driving force behind his career and it was clear as the 21-year-old pointed to the heavens after finishing the crossing line that he was dedicating this victory to her memory.



&#8220;It&#8217;s basically me carrying her through every stride that I take inside the field,&#8221; Tebogo said. &#8220;To take her (with me), it gives me a lot of motivation. She&#8217;s watching up there, and she&#8217;s really, really happy.&#8221;



Lyles had been anointed as the heir apparent to the great Usain Bolt but had his 26-race winning streak in the 200m ended by Tebogo in the semifinals. Asked whether he was now the face of men’s athletics, the Botswanan said he would leave that to Lyles.



“I think, for me, I can’t be the face of athletics because I’m not an arrogant or a loud person like Noah,” he said. “I believe Noah is the face of athletics.”

Athletics – Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 13

The 21-Year-Old Who Has Won The First-Ever Gold For Botswana At The Olympics

TOPLINE Three foreign athletes residing in the Olympic village and 16 other people linked to the Tokyo Olympics have tested positive for Covid-19, the games’ organizers announced on Friday, marking a record daily rise in cases tied to the event just hours before the opening ceremony is scheduled to kick off.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h3>



According to the organizing committee, the three infected athletes include two from the Czech Republic and one from the Netherlands,&nbsp; who are now undergoing a 14-day period of isolation,&nbsp;Kyodo News&nbsp;<a href="https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/07/6d30a069f5aa-19-olympic-linked-covid-cases-reported-on-opening-ceremony-day.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.



It’s unclear how many athletes have been identified as close contacts to the three positive cases, but they will not be required to enter isolation and will be allowed to compete if they test negative within six hours of the start of their events.



The 16 other people who tested positive include three contractors and three members of the media, the organizers said without offering additional details.



A total of 106 Covid-19 cases linked to the Olympics have been recorded since July 1, when the organizers started offering daily updates.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h3>



1,979. That’s the total number of Covid-19 cases&nbsp;<a href="https://stopcovid19.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>&nbsp;in Tokyo on Thursday, the highest daily count since mid-January. After flattening out last month, cases in Tokyo began to rise in July, forcing the Japanese government to impose a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/07/08/japan-declares-covid-emergency-in-tokyo-olympics-likely-to-have-no-fans-in-attendance/?sh=561896294e7c">state of emergency</a>&nbsp;in the national capital.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h3>



The steady rise in the number of cases linked to the Olympics has raised questions about the adequacy of the safety measures put in place for the mega event. Experts have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/olympic-village-covid-19-infection-bubble-already-broken-health-expert-2021-07-20/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warned</a>&nbsp;that the Olympic’s Covid-19 bubble has already been breached and it could lead to a larger outbreak that may spill into the Japanese population. Visiting athletes participating in the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are expected to follow a stringent set of pandemic-related rules which were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/archive/2021/06/?sh=47defdb81f67">unveiled last month</a>. Under the rules, all participating athletes and officials will be screened for the virus daily and are required to provide saliva samples at set times. Athletes, who can only stay in officially approved accommodations, will have their movements restricted and will be subject to GPS tracking by officials.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h3>



<a href="https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/07/6d30a069f5aa-19-olympic-linked-covid-cases-reported-on-opening-ceremony-day.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">19 Olympic-linked COVID cases reported on opening ceremony day</a>&nbsp;(Kyodo News)



<a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/olympic-village-covid-19-infection-bubble-already-broken-health-expert-2021-07-20/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Olympics-Athletes&#8217; village COVID-19 isolation bubble already &#8216;broken&#8217; &#8211; health expert</a> (Reuters)



By Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff

Opening Ceremony – Olympics: Day 0

Nineteen New Olympic Covid-19 Cases Reported On Opening Ceremony Day Including Three Foreign Athletes

Brenda Howden wears her eminence and her gold medal lightly.
“I don’t blow my own trumpet. A lot of children here do not know I have won an Olympic gold medal,” she smiles.
Howden is a picture of fitness and understatement, on this cool winter’s afternoon at Auckland Park Preparatory School in Johannesburg, where she is headmistress. As well as her eminence, she also wears lightly her blue 1980 Olympics jacket. It fits like a glove and you can easily imagine she could still tear down the wing, hockey stick in hand.
It is ironic that, 32 years ago, Howden, then known as Brenda Phillips, was considered too weak to make the grade at the Olympics. She was one of the Bulawayo contingent, which included striker Pat McKillop, goalkeeper Sarah English and Helen Volk.
Howden, then 22, was teaching at her old school in Bulawayo, Townsend High School, when the call to Moscow came. The excitement was tempered by doubt over whether she was strong enough.
“For the next six weeks I had to get up at 4am and got for weightlifting in the gym. Then I had to go to school to teach and during break time I would practise goal shooting. Then, after school, I would go over the road to the nearby race track and run until 9pm at night,” she says.
Howden made it to Moscow and was surprised by what she found. The streets were drab, the shop windows were empty and there were queues for food.
“It seemed that everything was in black, white or grey. We could go into our cafeteria at the Olympic village and order whatever we wanted, but outside people were suffering,” she says.
Security was tight at the Games, but for the team, who were all very young, it was a golden excursion, as well as a sporting event. Howden kept a scrapbook that tells the story of the entire trip; from the good luck cards before they went; to a program from the ballet; pictures of the Kremlin and even a photograph of Britain’s Steve Ovett on his victory lap, after winning his only Olympic gold medal in the 800 meters.
“We even bunked one night to go and see the Moscow underground. It is beautiful and the stations had chandeliers in them,”she says.
There was a huge crowd when the team touched down in Harare. Drum majorettes were on the tarmac and people packed the airport. In the crowd was 11-year-old Lindsey Carlisle on her father’s shoulders.
“The plane was late, but that didn’t dampen our enthusiasm. When they came out we were all looking for the gold medals around their necks,” says Carlisle.
“The arrivals hall was full. I remember seeing the captain Ann Grant and we moved closer so I could touch her medal and I knew then what I wanted to do with my life. I turned to my dad and said I want one of those one day. He said I had better start working towards it.”
True to her word, Carlisle, who grew up in Zimbabwe, but was born in Johannesburg, became captain of the South African hockey team. She went to two Olympics, Sydney and Athens, but brought back no medals and could have been forgiven for being disappointed.
“I never really thought of it that way. Just going to the Olympics and being regarded as one of the best athletes in the world is good enough for me.”
Howden flew home to Bulawayo where schoolchildren had been bussed in from miles around to clap her through arrivals. In the months that followed, she replied to fan mail and autograph hunters from around the world and attended numerous functions and speaking engagements. In 1984, she moved from Bulawayo to South Africa, where she is married with two sons, and where she trains youngsters in hockey.
“I would like to go back to Moscow one day, just to see what it looks like. I am told it has changed,” she says.
“I have no regrets. The Olympics stood me in good stead and it taught me how to fight to the top and never give up.”
Golden words from a golden girl.

Tag: Olympian

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

The 21-Year-Old Who Has Won The First-Ever Gold For Botswana At The Olympics

Nineteen New Olympic Covid-19 Cases Reported On Opening Ceremony Day Including Three Foreign Athletes

The Quiet Olympian